Sunday, 19 February 2012

Developing positive self-esteem is important for a child's
emotional and mental well-being. If children feel happy about
themselves, they have more confidence in dealing with stressful
situations and resisting negative peer pressure. They have a levelheaded
and optimistic outlook in life.
On the other hand, children with
low self-esteem frequently get frustrated and anxious. They tend to look
at challenges as something beyond their capabilities, and would usually
resort to escaping from responsibilities. They tend to isolate
themselves. Some of them even become depressed.
As a parent, how
can you help build your child's self esteem? First, let's define
self-esteem as the whole set of beliefs and thoughts one has for
oneself. It is how we perceive ourselves in relation to our
surroundings. It is related to our feelings of being loved, and worthy
of being loved.
A child's self-esteem starts to develop at a young
age. For example, an infant who just learned to take his first steps
experiences an exhilarating feeling of accomplishment that boosts his
self-esteem. Children learn at an early age that persistent efforts can
finally lead to success. This builds their ideas of their capability to
achieve what they want. They also get confirmation for their sense of
achievement and potentials from the people around them.
Parents
can help build their child's self-esteem by being careful with their
choice of words. Recognize your child's efforts even if they fall short
of a targeted outcome. Try not to insinuate that they did not work hard
enough, especially if you have seen them putting in their best efforts
for a particular task.
Parents must also be positive models of
self-acceptance to their children. If you yourself have low self-esteem,
your child might pick up your tendency to expect far too much from
yourself. They can imitate you in the sense that they would be highly
critical of their own abilities and limitations.
Be sensitive to
your child's inaccurate views about themselves and their capabilities.
You must correct their hypercritical assessments of themselves so that
they will learn to see themselves in a fair and realistic light. The
inaccurate views can be about their appearance, performance of tasks, or
their abilities. Negative self-perceptions tend to take root early in a
child's consciousness, and later on become a reality for them.
Show
your love for your child through hugs and generous praise. Be sincere
in your commendations. A child would be able to discern if you're
exaggerating.
Provide a home environment where a child feels safe
and loved. Low self-esteem among children can be a sign of physical or
emotional abuse at home. A child also suffers emotionally if he
frequently witnesses his parents fighting each other. Likewise, you have
to be watchful for signs of abuse and bullying from your child's peers.
These matters have to be attended to immediately.
Encourage your
child to join cooperative activities, instead of competitions. There are
some child mentoring programs where a younger child is paired with an
older child and they get to learn certain tasks cooperatively such as
reading, or arts and crafts.

Monday, 16 January 2012

So, you're not feeling that great about yourself and you want to know how to gain self-esteem. Sometimes it is really hard to know where to start, but there are many resources on this site that can show you how to gain self-esteem and improve your overall feeling towards yourself, life and others. If you really think about it, you're taking a major step forward. You have taken the initiative to search for information so that you will find the answers that you need. That's a major step in the right direction! Before long, you'll know how to gain self-esteem and your life will not only be richer in experience, but you'll also be happier!
Many people feel vulnerable once they hear the concept of making changes to themselves. The thought of change results in many emotional feelings occurring in people over the years. These emotions often hinder many people from changing one's personal characteristics to gain self-esteem. The act of change is simply our ability to alter our habits so that we make constructive changes. A variety of techniques are available that will help change one's personal characteristics. Transformations are changes that we make to our way of thinking which helps to improve one's self-esteem.
Through transformation, we change our habits, patterns, thinking and behavior. By successfully undergoing transformation, we can gain self-esteem, which results in us being happier and more successful. Being anxious of any change is often an emotional fear of the unknown. Can I successfully make these types of changes? Will making these changes really help me gain self-esteem? What happens if these changes that I make don't work? Not knowing the answers to these types of questions can produce anxiety and hinder an individual from even attempting any change.
Many people won't even challenge their fears which can make daily activities a challenge. Taking that first step toward positive transformation is a challenge, but it is very rewarding. The feeling of accomplishment makes taking additional steps easier. With positive changes, one can gain self-esteem and strength of character. By visualizing the type of person that you want to be, you can accomplish each step of transformation that may be needed. Each step brings you closer to your personal goals.Benefits of Visualization
Start your transformation process by visualizing yourself as you are now. Focus on all of your positive and negative personal characteristics. Do you look at things in a negative or positive way? If you tend to look at things in a negative way, then you need to strive at gaining more self-esteem and confidence. As you accomplish this change in thought, from negative to positive, you will be empowered to make additional changes that will lead you to success.
You can obtain positive change by sticking to your plan while you work to obtain your goals. For example, if your plan includes losing some unwanted weight, then you must have a diet plan and an exercise routine. Since many individuals get anxious about change, the latest solutions that are promoted help them with accomplishing personal transformations which will lead to a better life for them. Transformation is merely developing the ability to adjust to something new. When you transform your negative habits, behaviors and thinking process to patterns which are positive in nature, you bring greater rewards to yourself.
When an individual maintains their negativity, it prevents them from achieving any success that they may desire. In order to make positive changes, the individual must face their anxiety and fears so that he/she can start the process of gaining self-esteem and building their strength of character.
Individuals that are afraid of change, often have low self-esteem. This is simply being afraid of anything that is different. This means that it is necessary to accept these differences, by training our mind to be willing to accept any change that we might encounter. Therefore, we must be willing to accept change so that we can progress toward transforming our current way of life.Self-Analysis is Important
Using self-analysis can help you make positive changes while, at the same time, gaining self-esteem. In order to make constructive changes to ourselves, it is important to analyze why we do certain things or think a certain way. Many times, when an individual performs a self-analysis, he/she often discover problems that weren't apparent. For example, perhaps when you analyze yourself, you discover that you're not really comfortable with yourself and that you actually have a fear of being alone. The common fear of being alone is harbored by many people, but many of them don't realize that they have this fear. By performing an honest self-analysis, you can discover your fears and then take steps to eliminate them.
Self-analysis can often enable an individual to take steps that will make positive transformations and improve self-esteem simply by expressing one's thoughts and feelings. This individual will be able to recognize any negative and positive characteristics that he/she may have. Once negative characteristics are recognized, the individual will be able to address these issues and move toward transformations that will result in creating positive characteristics. During this self-analysis process, the individual will come to know himself/herself better, which helps gain self-esteem. Once you know your positive and negative characteristics, you can monitor these feelings so that you can initiate any positive change needed. This is another step that will help you gain more self-esteem.
By using self-analysis, you know yourself better. You will be able to discover any feelings that may make you uncomfortable. Knowing how to recognize these negative feelings is a major step in striving for positive transformations. If you don't know yourself or are anxious about change, you won't be able to enjoy life to the fullest. Really get to know yourself and what you want. Be willing to make changes even if the first change is a small one. Each positive change that you make brings you closer to your desire of gaining self-esteem.

It's never too late to improve yourself and have a better life. Knowledge is power and it is the first step of your journey. Read daily news, blog excerpts and common questions relating to improving yourself and how to gain self-esteem.

About Me

I enjoy helping people to find ways to build confidence and self esteem, my aim is to help as many people as possible attain the level of confidence that I have found, through the many programs available on line.